Mycenæ: a narrative of researches and discoveries at Mycenæ and TirynsSchliemann, Heinrich
History
Mycenæ: a narrative of researches and discoveries at Mycenæ and Tiryns
Schliemann, Heinrich
Mycenae (Extinct city); Tiryns (Extinct city)
The soil consisted of black earth, intermixed with fragments of hand-made
and very ancient wheel-made pottery, and masses of small knives of
obsidian. Besides a small number of Hera-idols, I found there a solid
piece of ivory, one inch high and broad, in the form of a beehive, having
in the lower flat side a tubular hole for suspension with a thread;
while on the convex or globular side is an engraved cross, embellished
with five gold pins with flat heads, each of which has a small hole in
the centre of its head (see No. 235); also a piece of wood, 4 in. long
and 2 in. broad, with beautifully carved spiral lines (No. 222),[276]
which seems to belong to a box (νάρθηξ); also two well-polished
pieces of wood with sharp points, but otherwise almost in the form of
long thin cones.
[Illustration: No. 235. Piece of ornamented ivory. (5 M.) Size 3:4.]
In digging deeper I found that, at a distance of 33 ft. from the east
side of the circular double parallel row of large slabs which encloses
the Agora, the rock suddenly slopes, for a space of 30 ft. in length
and width, at an angle of 30 degrees, the perpendicular height of the
slope being 16½ ft. Further to the west the rock forms a platform 30 ft.
long and broad, with two sepulchres, of which I shall first describe
the smaller one, because the aforesaid two tombstones stood at a height
of 16½ ft. above its mouth. This sepulchre, which in the Plan B I call
the Third Tomb, is 16 ft. 8 in. long, and 10 ft. 2 in. broad, and it
is cut into the rock, on the west side 2 ft. 4 in., on the south side
3 ft. 4 in., on the east side 7 ft., and on the north 5 ft. deep.[277]
These different depths find their explanations in the slope and in the
unevenness of the rock, because the bottom of the tomb is of course
perfectly horizontal. At about 9 ft. above the mouth of this tomb I
discovered close to it, on the slope of the rock, at a depth of 21
ft. below the former surface, a number of skeletons of men, which had
evidently not been on the funeral pyre, but were so much destroyed by
the moisture that none of the skulls could be taken out entire. The only
objects I found with them were knives of obsidian and five very pretty
hand-made vases, two of which are of plain light yellow, the three
others of a light green colour, with a rude black ornamentation (see Nos.
236, 237).
[Illustration: Nos. 236, 237. Hand-made Vases of Terra-cotta. Depth 20
ft. Half-size.]
[Sidenote: ROCK IN CENTRE OF THE AGORA.]
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